About Us - Issues

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)

Libraries and museums are improving learning in science, technology, engineering and math, a national priority for US competitiveness.

Stem Video Game Challenge logoPartnership: STEM Video Game Challenge
IMLS is a National Community Sponsor of the National STEM Video Game Challenge. The Challenge, now in its third year, was inspired by President Obama’s "Educate to Innovate" Campaign, promoting science, technology, engineering and math education.

Search the Awarded Grants database for grants to programs that strengthen STEM (issue areas have only been assigned to grants awarded since FY 2009)

STEM content on the IMLS website:
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October 2011: 3-D Imaging Technology Preserves Audio Collections


Libraries, archives and museums across the country have special audio collections contained on antique grooved media that are broken, too fragile or too degraded to play back on traditional systems. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory IRENE/3D project uses digital imaging technology to preserve these sound recordings. Read More

 
Two teachers converse at a table; museum collections are visible in the background.
September 2011: Teachers Use Museum Objects to Help Students Learn about Real-World Problems


The Event-Based Teachers Collaborative at Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History supports K-12 school teachers and their students by facilitating the development of new and exciting curriculum that integrates museum objects while aligning with national and state standards for learning. Read More

 
Lamar Elementary students pose with Assistant Museum Educator Megan DiRienzo at the end of their Art Science Fusion program.
June 2011: Fine Arts Museum Brings Together Community Resources to Provide Art and Science Fusion Education


With funding from an IMLS National Leadership Grant, the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, along with its partners, the San Angelo Independent School District and the Upper Colorado River Authority, brings together community resources to create an interdisciplinary program of art and science education that engages students in real-life projects focusing on water conservation and environmental science. Read More

 
A librarian and three students use a computer in a school library.
April 2011: Research Explores How School Librarians Use Digital Content for STEM Learning


Studies suggest that Interactive resources like models, videos, images, data sets and manipulatives, many of which are freely available to school libraries as open content through the web are important for learning science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts. Florida State University, School of Library & Information Studies is using an IMLS grant to explore how school librarians can make it easier for students and their teachers to use digital content to support STEM learning. Read More

 
WATCH teens take a break from their research and experience Elkhorn Slough by kayak
August 2010: Teaching Teens to WATCH the Environment


When the Monterey Bay Aquarium sought to expand its environmental education efforts, it found a good match in the Watsonville area near the northeast coast of Monterey Bay. The new Pajaro Valley High School was located in what has become a rarity in coastal California: A wetlands area called a slough. Read More